Jason Mesnick certainly caused a lot of ruckus as his season of The Bachelor, the 13th of the series, ended earlier this year. He started out his life of reality stardom as one of the hopefuls vying for the hand of DeAnna Pappas on The Bachelorette, and although he didn’t win her heart in the end, he managed to capture the hearts of viewers all over America. And how could he not? He’s got a winsome smile, he’s a devoted family man raising his 4-year-old son Ty, and his earnestness and good looks are really hard to ignore.

But public opinion of Jason Mesnick certainly has changed since the season finale of The Bachelor, when he proposed to former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Melissa Rycroft. Without the probing stare of the cameras, he and Melissa fell out of love with each other just as fast as they fell in love. As you all know, he went on air for the “After the Rose Special” and broke up with Melissa, citing his love for Molly as the reason. Since that night, Jason and runner-up Molly Malaney have become a couple, and Melissa has learned how to ballroom dance on Dancing with the Stars.

Now that some time has passed and everybody has gotten a chance to settle down and look at things with more perspective, I wanted to talk to Jason to see what he had to say for himself. He is a native of Kirkland, Washington, not too far from BuddyTV headquarters, so he stopped by for a chat.

I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect in meeting him, but I think a part of me was expecting a completely different person than the one I got to know every Monday night. After talking with for a bit, however, I found him to be exactly how he portrayed himself on TV. Whatever doubts I had about his sincerity or aspirations for fame were laid to rest. Chalk one up for the guy: he really is a sincere person.

When I asked him about breaking up with Melissa, he replied, “We were apart beforehand, and I had been saying that the whole time. So, you know, why were we really there? I mean, that’s something people should ask themselves too.” I’ve read or watched almost every interview that Jason Mesnick has done since the end of The Bachelor, so I had heard him say this exact thing many times before. But, honestly, I don’t get his rhetorical question, “Why were we really there?” I should have asked him to elaborate on that. I’m assuming that the answer to his question is that the whole breakup was all staged by ABC, but maybe he didn’t want to go outright on the offensive against the network. Asking this question might have been his way of accusing Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss of malicious shenanigans without actually accusing him. I don’t know. What do you think?

Please enjoy the interview below. Then come back in the a few days to watch part 2 of the interview, in which Jason opines on Jillian Harris’ chances at finding love on The Bachelorette.